The trial enrolled 508 patients. It tested a combination of Remicade and azathioprine, an immunosuppressive drug, against each drug by itself. Remicade is one of three approved "biologic" Crohn's treatments that block TNF, a major player in the immune responses that inflame the intestines of Crohn's patients.

After 26 weeks of treatment, patients getting the combination had a 57% chance of disease remission, compared to 44% of those getting Remicade alone and to 30% of those getting azathioprine alone. Similar results were seen after 50 weeks of treatment.

The combination treatment worked even better in patients with colonoscopy-confirmed disease and blood-test evidence of inflammation. Among these patients, 69% achieved remission with the combination treatment compared to 57% of those on Remicade alone and to 28% of those on azathioprine alone.

"For patients who don't initially respond to corticosteroids, or who don't continue to respond when we taper down corticosteroids, those patients are best treated with a combination of anti-TNF and immune-suppressive drugs, Sandborn tells WebMD. "That will give patients their best chance of being off steroids and having a healthy bowel."

Some specialists are skipping steroids and going straight to the combination, Kerman says.

"Some patients require corticosteroids, but I think that more and more we are realizing that corticosteroids may change the natural history of Crohn's disease for a worse outcome," he says. "Using biological therapies and immune modulators may preclude the need for ever needing corticosteroids."